"It is perfectly obvious that the intention is to defame NGOs in the eyes of the public [...]. There have even been comical instances when in the depths of winter charity workers tried to pull homeless people [...] out of freezing basements, only to be told: 'We are patriots, and you are foreign agents' " - Svetlana Gannushkina

"It is perfectly obvious that the intention is to defame non-governmental organisations in the eyes of the wider public and within official circles. If even now all our seminars are still being attended by representatives of the Federal Migration Service, the Interior Ministry, and other ministries and departments, then how will they come if it is written in black and white that they are being invited by a 'foreign agent?' Judges' hands will be burned by booklets containing material by us, stamped 'published by a foreign agent.' There have even been comical instances when in the depths of winter charity workers tried to pull homeless people who were suffering with chilblains out of freezing basements, only to be told: 'We are patriots, and you are foreign agents.' So both in the eyes of officials and the general public we are pariahs, with whom it is best not to have any dealings." - Svetlana Gannushkina